Today we start with a game that has a sharp and pretty finish and on the way through features unusual and interesting positions that are really hard for a human to evaluate.  Then we have a couple of games containing moves that are easy for a human to understand but have baffled engines!

All three contain sacrifices and are annotated by the winners.

A Rook Sac

While playing through much of this game it is very hard to answer the classic training question: “Who is better and why?” – that is what makes it so interesting even before the very nice conclusion.  Martin Simons navigated his way through the difficulties and then found a pretty sac to finish the game.

A Long Term Exchange Sac

The following game was played in 1979 before any of us had PCs, smartphones or chess engines.  By 2008 engines were already stronger than humans but they could not correctly assess the key exchange sac in this game, whereas today’s engines can.  Enjoy the sac and the elegant finish.